March 10, 2025, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Accompanied by a video, the performance blurred the line between a lecture and a personal reflection on environmental change over a life span. At the centre of the backdrop was the iconic Blue Marble photograph captured by the Apollo 17 crew on December 7, 1972. Professor Lussault portrayed a character expressing his emotions as he contemplates this image of the Earth. In a monologue, he shared the sense of fragility that looking at Blue Marble can evoke.

Lussault opted for performance to discuss the strong feelings he gets looking at the picture, which he uses as entry point to discuss the Anthropocene. He began the performance with a video in which images of humans exploiting our planet’s natural resources appear one after another  as intense, stirring music plays. Lussault chose not to start with academic findings, which can often be complex; instead, he launched into a more accessible form of presentation.

From that point in the presentation, he captured the audience’s attention with his eloquent monologue about the Earth’s beauty and its vulnerability in contrast to the institutions and activities that shape our ways of life and exploit the planet’s resources. But this photo from 1972 is a powerful awakening to the fact that the infinite growth driven by today’s economic rationale is not viable in a finite world. He concluded his performance by asking if it is time to admit that we humans have failed in how we live on Earth.

The ensuing discussion period with the audience emphasized a vital message: we can still change how we do things. We have a responsibility, and we need to (re)learn how to live together and accept the Earth’s limits. In his interactions with the audience, Lussault emphasized the importance of finding new city-building practices by tackling projects with a view to environmental, social, economic and technological realities. The task of building a more resilient, sustainable world asks us to think differently and collectively about our relationship to the future, and to re-examine current perspectives on environmental planning and how we live. Methods of observation, forecasting, support and engagement with actors at all levels in this project must advance new ideas on what is possible, probable or desirable so that everyone’s efforts become part of aspirational futures that are flexible.

The ensuing discussion period with the audience emphasized a vital message: we can still change how we do things. We have a responsibility, and we need to (re)learn how to live together and accept the Earth’s limits. In his interactions with the audience, Lussault emphasized the importance of finding new city-building practices by tackling projects with a view to environmental, social, economic and technological realities. The task of building a more resilient, sustainable world asks us to think differently and collectively about our relationship to the future, and to re-examine current perspectives on environmental planning and how we live. Methods of observation, forecasting, support and engagement with actors at all levels in this project must advance new ideas on what is possible, probable or desirable so that everyone’s efforts become part of aspirational futures that are flexible.

Finally, the discussion gave Lussault the opportunity to share his reflections about academia and how far it has strayed from a larger public debate, becoming the exclusive domain of an elite group of experts. This gap is widened by the vast range of academic disciplines, the complexity of the research they produce and — above all — the jargon they use. Too often, these practices are exclusive of the general public. To narrow the gap between academia and society, Lussault offered Blue Marble Obsession as a new approach to stimulate discussions with the public about the Earth’s habitability crisis.

March 4, 2025, 4 to 6 p.m.

The workshop took an in-depth look at global urbanization and its effects. Lussault began his presentation with an overview of global urbanization, highlighting the central role played by “extractivism” in urban systems, which is seen as the main threat to the equilibrium of the world system.

Lussault contends that urban unsustainability is no longer an uncertain future prospect, but a reality already being experienced on a global scale. The facts are clear: we must act now to stem the tide of environmental change. He also argued that the concept of sustainability is not universal but varies according to the geocultural realities of individual regions, with each locale having a unique approach to the ecological and social issues associated with urbanization

Geographer Michel Lussault organized a participatory “detective room” where attendees were invited to discuss the environmental and social challenges stemming from contemporary urban development. This unique activity sought to examine how residents, researchers and professional urban planners see, experience and question the city, especially in light of growing economic, social and environmental sustainability challenges. Every week, the detective room opened its doors to uOttawa community members, political figures and urban planning experts to discuss three key issues: unsustainable urban development, environmental durability and social justice.

This investigation was simple and accessible by design, using basic tools like paper, pens and posters to build up a corpus of reflections, ideas, images and suggestions. The goal was to establish a diagnosis as a group, and to promote a shared sense of how to live in cities, transform them and make them more sustainable now and in the future.

At the heart of the activity was the vital conceptual distinction Lussault drew between sustainability and durability. To him, sustainability means all the social, political and symbolic conditions that make life in cities possible on an ongoing basis, while durability is a more specific term for how infrastructure endures in time and space. This classification helped attendees to identify the factors that are currently making life in cities unsustainable: an over-reliance on resource extraction and global supply chains; real estate speculation that fuels a housing crisis; ecosystem degradation; massive contributions to global warming; and exacerbated social and environmental inequalities. Many observations were specific to Ottawa-Gatineau, but they also reflect global trends linked to urban development that have become unsustainable across the globe.

Beyond gathering observations, the detective room aimed to identify possibilities for change. Lussault insists that solutions cannot just be technical or technology- and economics-based; instead, they need to come from broader community reflection and citizen input. He stresses the key role played by residents. They need to be at the forefront of redefining how we live together. Several suggestions emerged: redesigning the city to bring back more local living (e.g., the 15-minute city), rethinking architectural standards, recycling, promoting co-operation over individual achievement, opting for durability over efficiency, and cultivating a new culture of living together. Participants made some memorable contributions, including the suggestion to break free from the idea that there is no alternative to the current capitalist model. This emphasizes that the dominant model is neither natural nor inevitable — it is one system among many, and we can imagine it differently.

Although he heard a wealth of ideas, Lussault noticed more reluctance in the discussions when it came time to formulate practical solutions. Respondents wanted to take action, but collective fear, anticipatory fatigue or a kind of fatalism held them back. There was consensus about problems we are facing, but people seem unable to imagine solutions due to a widespread feeling of resignation, a sense that we may not be able to change. To address this, Lussault proposes an ambitious follow-up project: as part of the Sustainable Cities Initiative, he plans to embark on a science fiction–style interpretation about future cities and land. This forward-looking exercise would bring together students, researchers, artists, architects and locals to work together to create scenarios for possible futures as a way of restoring a sense of possibilities to residents. Lussault suggests that the Faculty of Arts is in a particularly strong position to lead this interdisciplinary project by rallying people from the social sciences, engineering, communications and the arts. He believes we urgently need to rekindle our collective imagination and our vision for the future so we can discover new ways of thinking about livability in cities.

March 26, 2025, 1:30 to 4 p.m.

An international workshop, organized by the Research Centre on the Future of Cities, brought together researchers from the fields of anthropology, geography and urban studies, sought to explore energy issues through the lens of ethics, collective emotions and sustainable futures. The workshop featured two main lectures followed by commentary and open discussion in a room with some 40 participants.

The first lecture was given by Professor Mette High, an anthropologist at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and founding director of the Centre for Energy Ethics. Drawing on an ethnographic study of oil and gas producers in Colorado (USA), she examined how emotions such as pride and optimism shape moral valuations in the energy sector. Highlighting the tensions between emotional commitment and environmental effects, she discussed the ways in which energy systems carry implicit moral judgments. Her arguments are rooted in the emerging field of energy ethics, which examines the moral dimensions of energy infrastructures and their attendant discourse.

Dr. Adam Fleischmann, a postdoctoral fellow with the Sustainable Cities Initiative at the University of Ottawa, gave the second lecture. His project, titled Feeling Climate Change on a Global Scale, focuses on “intermediary climate experts”—modellers, educators, analysts and network coordinators—who are at the crossroads between climate science and policymaking. Fleischmann’s work examines how these players in North America and France mobilize emotions such as ecological anxiety or “climate mourning” to give meaning to their professional engagement. Drawing on affect theory and the concept of “structures of feeling” (Raymond Williams), Fleischmann considers energy transitions from an anthropological perspective, where renewable energy projects are not solely about technology; instead, he argues that embedded in them are worldviews and normative narratives about the future. As such, renewable energy projects can be quite contentious.

The presentations were followed by an exchange between the presenters and   Vincent Mirza, professor of Anthropology and director of the Research Centre on the Future of Cities, and Michel Lussault, geographer. Their comments highlighted the role of cities as spaces of ethical experimentation and tensions between normative and ordinary ethics. The final discussion with the public, allowed for a deeper look at certain key topics, including feelings of fear, contradiction or guilt with regard to climate questions, as well as the difficulty in turning global responsibility into concrete local action.

The workshop highlighted the need for an interdisciplinary approach to climate change, integrating the affective, cultural and moral dimensions of energy transitions. Far from being neutral, energy choices are indicative of social aspirations, collective emotional structures and visions of the future.

May 7, 2025, 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

Using both a critical and pragmatic approach, Professor Campbell questioned the sometimes-paradoxical effects of environmental cleanup in urban areas. Relying on empirical research and advanced analytical models, she showed how some well-intentioned environmental efforts can lead to undesired consequences, in particular, displacement of vulnerable populations. This phenomenon, which she calls “green gentrification,” refers to the collateral effects of improving the urban environment in historically marginalized neighbourhoods, particularly rent increases and the displacement of long-time residents with the arrival of more affluent households.

Campbell began by reviewing the structural problem of environmental justice in the United States. She argued that racial and ethnic minorities — particularly Afro-American, Asian and Indigenous communities — are disproportionately exposed to industrial pollution and contaminated soil, while having limited access to green spaces and environmental resources. Far from just spatial inequality, the situation reflects unequal power dynamics and structural exclusion.

Brownfield sites were discussed as a fundamental example of both an environmental and social liability for low-income communities. Brownfield cleanups, often driven by urban revitalization efforts or sustainable development policies, can trigger the gentrification process. Indeed, improving air, soil or landscape quality can attract new investment and new people, which increases real estate prices. In many cases, this rapid socioeconomic change leads to involuntary displacement of local populations, particularly low-income households. Campbell explained that gentrification can be motivated by either supply (investment and planned development) or demand (arrival of new families). However, she stressed that this does not lead systematically to displacement and that gentrification’s effects vary by context.

To understand this dynamic, Campbell proposes dealing with the city as a complex adaptive system, an approach inspired by complexity science. From this perspective, cities are seen as entities characterized by non-linear interactions, emergent effects, strong interdependence among actors and “clustering” (sharp spatial variations). For example, she applied this theoretical framework to New York City, whose density, social diversity and strong land use pressure exacerbate the effects of green gentrification. For her, effective policy must recognize this complexity, to avoid simplistic solutions.

The presentation examined two methodologies for examining the effects of green gentrification: agent-based modelling, which enables simulation of different social groups’ behaviour and interactions when facing urban change, and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), used to identify combinations of factors that further or limit displacement. Using these tools, Campbell presented several scenarios tested through case studies: introduction of various-sized parks, varying degrees of ‘greening’, creation of local economic infrastructure and development of housing accessibility policies.

She stressed several key conclusions. First, that green gentrification and displacement are not inevitable, but their interactions are complex, and the outcomes depend on context. Second, some areas are more vulnerable than others; in particular, neighbourhoods that are high-density, located near business centres or adjacent to areas already being gentrified. Third, displacement creates lasting social instability, particularly by exposing the displaced population to repeated relocation cycles. Finally, she presented concrete policy options to limit these effects: integrating social justice measures in cleanup projects, promoting so-called “just green enough” strategies that avoid transformations that are appealing to high-income households, and control of rent increases through fiscal means or rent ceilings, where legislation allows.

In conclusion, Campbell argued for urban planning that is both environmentally responsible and socially equitable, able to recognize tensions between sustainability and justice. She stressed the need to design policies that are sensitive to the local context, evolving and informed by the lived reality of those affected. Her talk contributed to ongoing analysis of urban transition challenges, highlighting that any steps towards a healthier and greener environment must be accompanied by heightened vigilance regarding social effects.s.

March 12, 2026, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Nico Larco is a professor of architecture at the University of Oregon, director of the Urbanism Next Center and co-director of the Sustainable Cities Institute also at the University of Oregon. Since February, Professor Larco has been at the University of Ottawa as an invited professor in the André Gauthier Sustainable Cities Initiative. On March 12, 2026, he presented his Sustainable Urban Design Framework to a large number of researchers and partitioners working on a variety of city problems and development issues. The event introduced participants to a conceptual framework that could help them understand the many aspects of sustainability and incorporate them into urban design and planning.

Professor Larco began by driving home the complexity of the challenges cities face today, especially in light of climate change. Major issues include land-use planning, density, transport and personal mobility, the housing crisis and social equity as well as the overall quality of urban life. To that list can be added the rise of artificial intelligence. Beyond just transforming tools, AI is thoroughly reconfiguring design, analysis and decision-making practices in urban planning. However, the nature and intensity of these challenges vary from one area to another.

To address such issues, several rating systems, including LEED, SITES v2, the DGNB and BREEAM, are  used as references to shape practices. But they are mainly for urban planning professionals, and it takes a wide range of actors at multiple geographic levels to build sustainable cities.

To fill the gap, Larco presented the Sustainable Urban Design Framework, an analytical and conceptual framework to shape reflections, inform action and support decision-making regarding how urban environments are built. It is presented as an analytical grid bringing together five topics and multiple scales for urban projects, from the metropolitan area down to the neighbourhood, the block, the street and the parcel of land being developed.

In the presentation, Larco explored these topics through a number of areas for action to explain the tools available at several different levels of practice:

• Energy use and greenhouse gas — Strategies for reducing energy consumption and achieving a low-carbon futur
• Water — Water management, including conservation, drainage and adaptation to water-related risks
• Ecology and habitat — Integrating ecosystems into the built environment
• Energy use and production — Incorporating energy sources and infrastructure into the urban fabric
• Equity and health — Efforts focused on the social aspects of development, such as accessibility, inclusion and quality of the living environment.

Larco also stressed the importance of identifying “co-benefits” that some urban planning strategies could bring. For example, creating more dense and mixed-use communities can reduce car dependency, improve access to services and help make city life more vibrant. That said, some strategies can also lead to tensions and trade-offs with other sustainability goals. The proposed framework anticipates such situations to help decision-makers arrive at informed choices.

Larco emphasized that we need to move beyond the “disciplinary silos” often involved in urban planning practices. By linking multiple areas for action, the framework fosters collaboration between urban planners, architects, engineers, environmental experts and policymakers. Community groups and residents can also use it to better understand the dynamics of urban development and be more informed when confronting transformations and changes.

The Sustainable Urban Development Framework can be used for operational purposes in professional settings as well. It is a design tool to support teams in developing urban projects, along with providing an assessment framework to analyze the existing conditions in an area and identify opportunities for improvement. And it fosters dialogue between the range of stakeholders involved in an urban project by giving them a shared language to discuss project priorities and goals.

This presentation highlighted the importance of using a holistic, multifaced approach to address the challenges of urban sustainability. Larco showed that his proposed framework can give structure to analyses of an urban project to provide a clearer understanding of the interplay between environmental, social and energy considerations. He also reiterated that actors in planning and design play an active role in transforming the built environment to create more sustainable, livable cities.

A particularly rich audience discussion period closed out the event, with attendees showing strong interest and engagement. From the discussion, it was clear that Larco’s ideas resonate with a wide range of actors — a testament to his relevant and accessible presentation.

May 5, 2025

At the Annual General Meeting of the LIFE Research Institute, Professor Brian Ray, director of the Sustainable Cities Initiative, gave a presentation on issues of access to housing over the course of people’s lives. Titled Housing Affordability: Where, Who and Aging, the presentation drew on 2021 Census data to compare housing affordability in Montreal, Ottawa–Gatineau and Toronto, highlighting socio-spatial inequalities related to age, gender and household type.

In his presentation, Professor Ray identified three key aspects of the lack of access to affordable housing among older adults:

1. Housing markets are local, and access issues vary from one city to another in terms of severity and the vulnerable groups affected;
2. Access is closely linked to the household type in which people live;
3. Women are much more likely than men to experience income insecurity; which means they face more problems accessing housing.

One of the project findings is that older adults, particularly single women, are among the hardest hit by housing affordability. Levels of vulnerability are especially high in Toronto, where similar proportions of young adults and older adults contend with affordability challenges. This stands in stark contrast to trends observed in Montreal and Ottawa–Gatineau.

To conclude, Ray stressed that to ensure cities are socially sustainable, public policy must take into consideration the effects of aging, family structures and gender inequalities. He called for inclusive planning that factors in residents’ range of distinct life trajectories, thereby ensuring fair access to housing.

Several visiting researchers have taken on significant projects in addition to public speaking. This summary highlights the contributions of two researchers whose work stands out for its interdisciplinarity, its impact on the University and its contribution to promoting knowledge

Adam Fleischmann, PhD: 

September 1, 2024, to August 31, 2026

In addition to his presentation at the Energy Ethics and Urban Futures in the Anthropocene international event in March 2025, Adam Fleischmann has pursued a rich and highly organized research agenda that includes publications, field work, teaching and institutional commitments, in line with the goals of the Sustainable Cities Initiative.

He has released several scholarly publications and submitted others, which are currently undergoing peer review:

• Convening Climate Activism in Canada (Routledge, January 2025)
• Feeling Global Climate Change (forthcoming, University of Colorado Press)
• Ethnography in the Study of Health Information Systems (Edward Elgar Publishing, January 2025)
• The Case for Letting Canada Burn (invited article, Anthropologica, submission expected June 2025)
• Telecommuting and Remote (Field)work (in preparation for American Ethnologist, August 2025)
• Access and Virtual Primary Care (submission expected to The Annals of Family Medicine, June 2025)

These publications explore the intersections between anthropology, environmental ethics, climate-related feelings, public health and field methods in the context of the environmental crisis.

As part of his teaching duties, Fleischmann designed and led a Master’s seminar in winter 2025 — ANT 6122: Environmental Anthropology. It focused on critical research methods and contemporary debates about environmental justice. He was also a guest lecturer in Professor Brian Ray’s GEG 2108 / ENV 2108 class, where he discussed the tensions between activism, emotions and climate ethics.

Fleischmann is active in the academic community, serving as a section editor at the Society for Cultural Anthropology and a member of the Climate Change Interest Group. He has played a role in the launch of several scholarly projects in 2025 and is currently working on a preliminary field study in France that started in June. Running through 2025, the project explores emotional narratives around energy transitions.

He and Professor Mette High are also organizing an international panel for the Energy Ethics 2026 conference at the University of St Andrews (U.K.). The event will allow him to continue his interdisciplinary work on energy futures amid uncertainty and anxiety around the environment.

Fahd Abdelaziz Hemeida: 

Two interdisciplinary research projects were selected for the period running from May 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026. These projects reflect a desire to promote innovation in urban sustainability through approaches combining social sciences, public health, geography, the environment and emerging technologies. The following is a summary of the two projects selected, highlighting their goals, methodologies, knowledge mobilization strategies and training plans for student.

Researcher: Prof. Huhua Cao

• Toward Sustainable Urban Futures: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Chinese Investment  in Post-conflict Angola: 

This project assesses the socioeconomic, environmental and cultural effects of Chinese investment in urban infrastructure in Angola since the end of its civil war. The focus is on representative cases like the new city of Kilamba. The project questions the sustainability of these investments in a post-conflict context, analyzing their effects on migration, housing accessibility, community participation, environmental governance and social inequality.

The methodology combines quantitative (remote sensing, spatial modelling, surveys of 600 households) and qualitative data (interviews with decision-makers, local communities, Chinese businesses), as well as a temporal analysis of changes in the territory from 2000 to 2025. Artificial intelligence is being used for spatial and textual analysis, to make comparisons with other Global South settings

Results will be shared through workshops in Ottawa and in Angola, in collaboration with UN-Habitat . The project also includes a training program for graduate students.

The project will contribute to a body of research about post-conflict urbanization and South-South co-operation, while offering practical recommendations for more equitable and sustainable urbanization.

Researcher: Prof. Xiangfei Meng 

• Toward Sustainable Neighbourhood characteristics, the built environment and socioeconomic inequalities in quality of life: 

This project analyzes how the characteristics of neighbourhoods and the built environment affect the quality of life for middle-aged and senior adults, considering socioeconomic inequalities. It relies on data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), covering over 49,000 respondents, combined with environmental data from the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CUEHRC). These databases allow for very detailed study of the intersecting effects of the physical environment, social deprivation and socioeconomic status on psychological and social well-being.

The research relies on several forms of analysis that will identify, key lifelong factors that influence the quality of life of individuals. The project will also include a men-women comparative study to identify potential differential effects by gender. 

The knowledge mobilization strategy is ambitious: three scholarly articles will be submitted to leading international journals; presentations will be organized at specialized conferences (for example, for the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics); and activities will target the general public. Workshops will be organized to share results with decision-makers and practitioners, in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canadian Mental Health Association and the CLSA researchers.

Bringing together public health, social inequality and urban planning, this project offers an innovative look at the quality of urban life in an aging society, with concrete benefits for territorial planning and social policy.